SS008
is the 8th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sword & Shield. Synopsis Ash and Go have met a disheartened and worn-out Piplup in Vermilion's port. It appears this Piplup comes from the Sinnoh region and has gotten lost, so they decided to take it back home. Episode Plot Ash and Go arrive at the Vermilion port where they see a group of Tentacool living in the water. Ash touches one of them on head which feels soft and squishy, but causes it to be annoyed and attacks Ash. Go attempts to catch one of the Tentacool, hoping he will able to get one of the strong ones. Go finds a powerful and begin to catch, only for it to dodge and caught one of the other Tentacool instead. Despite that Go is still happy about his catch. However, the boys see something from the sea coming in their direction. The Pokémon emerges from the water, revealing to be a disheartened and worn-out Piplup. The boys are shocked by this and become terrified that Piplup has passed out. At the Sakuragi Institute, Piplup is eating some Pokémon food while the boys and Professor Sakuragi question where it came from. Koharu comes home and asks what they're doing, with Go answering that they're simply watching Piplup. However they realize that it has gone out of their sights until Mimey comes and tells everyone where Piplup is. The boys are shocked to see that Piplup is swimming in their bathroom sink. Renji comes in and tells everyone to go the main room. At the lab, they see a girl name Misaki on the screen who is Piplup's trainer. Misaki thanks them for finding and saving her Piplup as she explains that she and it are from the Sinnoh region, and was worried that Piplup ran away. Sakuragi then tells the boys to head to the Sinnoh region to return Piplup back to its trainer. The boys arrive in the Sinnoh region where they see a festival going on. Go shows Ash a poster about a Pokémon race called the "Drift Ice Race" and they plan to check it out after they complete their mission. Underwater, Team Rocket follow them and overhear their conversation and plan to capture Ash's Pikachu along with the other Pokémon in the race. However, they're were exhausted by peddling their ship as they couldn't afford to buy a electric assists or to install the vehicle to run on electricity. Upon arriving at the festival, Ash looks for Misaki while Go attempts a Pokémon where he successfully catches a Mantyke. Misaki arrives and she apologizes for being late as she dropped her glasses on her way. Misaki greets her Piplup as she welcomes it back but the latter shrugs her off. Misaki thanks the boys for saving her Piplup until she dropped her glasses, which Piplup picks up and returns it to her. Misaki attempts to bring Piplup back home with her but the latter refuses which makes the boys and the former wonders why Piplup is angry. A Croagunk appears which is Misaki's other Pokémon who the latter's state it simply came since it was worried about Piplup. However, the boys and Misaki are shock when they see Piplup and Croagunk fighting. The boys start to question if Croagunk was responsible for Piplup's disappearance and asks Misaki about the incident. Misaki explains that she first met Piplup about a year ago, when she dropped her glasses in the ocean and Piplup returned it to her. At her house, Miaki saw Piplup swimming in her pool, which she decides to have it enter Drift Ice Race where it won the competition. Ash is amazed about Piplup's origin but Go asks on how Misaki met Croagunk. Misaki explains that she met Croagunk last month where she had the same incident with her glasses. Croagunk has been living with both Misaki and Piplup since then, but the two Pokémon developed a rivalry with each other. During their rivalry Piplup lost to Croagunk during a little swimming race which impressed Misaki and praised Croagunk for its skills, which caused Piplup to be heartbroken and ran away from Sinnoh. The boys realize that Piplup left because it lost to Croagunk and swam to Kanto to train and beat it in a rematch. Piplup disappears only to return to sign both Croagunk and itself to compete in the Drift Ice Race race to settle score during the competition. Misaki is displeased by this as she just wants the both of them to be friends with each other. Ash and Go decide to enter the race as well with Ash using his Pikachu and Go using his newly caught Mantyke. Underwater, Team Rocket heard the boys and start preparing for their plan. At the Drift Ice Race, the Pokémon are preparing themselves for the competition. Ash and Go cheer for their Pokémon while Misaki is worried about Piplup and Croagunk. As the race begins, Piplup, Croagunk and Empoleon are in the lead, while the other Pokémon are left behind. Pikachu struggle to swim, but Mantyke turns back and carries Pikachu on its back. Piplup and Croagunk are both in the lead as they swim further to the finishing line. However, Team Rocket appears during in the middle of the race as they capture some the Pokémon, while Piplup and Croagunk continue the race. Ash orders Pikachu to use Iron Tail to cut the net, freeing the Pokémon. Team Rocket call on their Pelipper as bring their capsule machine, as they send two strong and powerful Pokémon from their machine: Machamp and Beartic. Team Rocket order their Pokémon to attack with Machamp throwing some chunk of ice at the Pokémon while Beartic uses Icicle Spear on Pikachu and Mantyke. Go tells Manytke to dodge with Agility while Ash orders Pikachu to attack with Thunderbolt, which electrocutes Team Rocket. An enraged James tells Beartic to attack the ship with Thrash, which causes the ship to be knocked off balance. Misaki falls off while she is holding on the edge of the boat. Piplup and Croagunk continue their race until they hear Misaki's glasses drop in the water and see that she is in danger. Putting their rivalry aside, they rush to Misaki aide as she is falling. Piplup and Croagunk cut a raft off the boat which they use to catch Misaki. Miksaki is happy that her Pokémon resuce and make amends as they bought back glasses. Ash and Go are happy Misaki is safe and the latter orders Scorbunny to use Double Kick on the Beartic, which knock Beartic off the boat and causes it to retreat. Pikachu then finish it with Thunderbolt which sends Team Rocket with a blast off. Due to Team Rocket's interference, the race is cancelled much to the boy's displease. However, they see Misaki with her Pokémon finally making amends with each other. At the dock, the boys return back to Kanto, biding Misaki and her Pokémon farewell. After they left, Misaki and her Pokémon decide to return home. However Miaski loses her glasses again as Piplup and Croagunk go to retrieve it. Unfortunately, a Psyduck returns Misaki's glasses back to her and she praises the Pysduck for its swimming skills leaving both Pipulp and Croagunk heartbroken by this. Debuts Character *Misaki *Masaya Pokémon *Go's Tentacool *Go's Mantyke Trivia *"Who's that Pokémon?:" Piplup (JP) *This is the first episode to air in 2020 and the first to air in the 2020s. 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